aHunter4Life (aHunter4Hire) (13 page)

Selena
brushed her dark hair from her face. By Cygnus, she was beautiful. Every cell
in his body craved to pull her close and ease her fears. He forced himself to
keep his hands at his side. She was too fragile right now. Any move on his part
would send her over the edge.

Selena
moved aside and let him enter. She closed the door and leaned against it. “What
have you found?”

“Partlan
and the others have been reviewing the video tape we took of the ransom drop.”
Catal walked into the tiny living space.

The
scent of a man’s aftershave assaulted Catal.

An
intruder.

He
pushed Selena behind him and scanned the room for the trespasser. Nothing was
out of place. Selena’s fist hit his back. He shrugged it off. His focus was on
protection. He’d been slack in letting her return alone to her quarters.

“Who’s
here?” His voice was a low snarl.

“Nobody.”
Selena pushed at his back. “I’m alone.”

“Someone
has been in this room.”

Selena
exhaled. “Juan just left.”

Catal’s
eyes widened and he turned around. “Your brother?”

“That’s
the only Juan I know.” Selena’s voice was sharp. “He snuck in when we were out
of the house.”

“What
did he want?” Catal eased his muscles.

“To
make certain I was safe.” Selena shrugged. “I haven’t seen him since I came to
the United States, but he’d heard about the kidnapping. He wanted to help.”

“We
will find
Tarrin
. Juan doesn’t need to worry.”

“You
can go unless you have some news.” Selena’s voice was dismissive.

Catal
clenched his jaw. “We should know soon who the kidnappers are. They will lead
us to the boys.”

“How
soon?”

“After
the videotapes have been examined.”

“What
happens if you come up empty like the FBI?” Selena crossed her arms.

“We
have another lead we are following.”

“Then
why aren’t you there now?” Selena’s eyes narrowed. “These monsters have already
tricked you once.”

“It
would be better for the boys if the kidnappers felt safe.” Catal kept his voice
even. “We want them to feel secure. We want them to make a mistake.”

“You
don’t think they have the boys with them.”

“Do
you?” Catal didn’t hide his exasperation. “You’re from a country where
kidnappings are frequent. You know what we’re dealing with here.”

“Yes
I do.” Selena spat the words at him. “That’s why I’m so frantic. How many
kidnappings have you been involved with?”

Catal
inhaled a calming breath. “More than I care to think about. I have dealt with
it from both sides.”

Selena
gasped. “You’ve abducted people?”

“It
was part of the job.” Catal cringed at how callous he sounded, but it was too
late to make apologies for the life he had lived before joining
Ardal’s
unit. He had survived.

“How
did your kidnappings play out?” Selena’s voice was a whisper. “Did you kill the
people?”

“No.”
Catal straightened his shoulders. He wasn’t proud of his past, but he had never
broken the Sacred Code. “There would have been no honor in that. We did what we
were paid for. In the end, our victims were always released.”

“What
if they identified you?”

“They
knew better.”

“So
you used fear to keep them quiet?” Selena shook her head. “Is there honor in
that?”

“Perhaps
not, but it was better than not keeping our word. We said if the money was
paid, then the victims would be set free. We are men of our word.”

“What
if they didn’t pay?”

“That
wasn’t a problem.”

Catal
forced his voice to stay calm. There had been times when money wasn’t the
reason for the abduction. Politically motivated kidnappings were meant to
remove opponents. In those cases, he’d set up the victims in a new place where
they could start their lives over. If they desired, he’d make arrangements for
their families to meet them. Their clients had been satisfied that their
opposition was out of the picture, and his honor had been left intact.

Selena
bit her lip. “Who are these possible suspects?”

“We
will interview these men and see what they have to say.”

Catal
kept his voice neutral. He believed their initial assessment of the paparazzi
was correct. The kidnappers were among them, but he didn’t want to get Selena’s
hope up if it didn’t pan out. Secrecy was best at this point. The last thing
they wanted was to frighten them into fleeing before they knew where the boys
were.

“You
mean you’re going to interrogate and torture them.” Selena shook her head. “You
forget, I know how you operate.”

“I
never resorted to torture.” Catal fought back his frustration. “I’m with
Ardal
now. We do things differently.”

“How
different?” Selena’s tone was doubtful.

“We
help those who need it.” Catal kept his voice low. “We right the wrongs we
find. We always do things with honor.”

“Why
the difference?” She raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t seem inclined to change in
the past.”

“I
have learned that some humans can be trusted.” Catal kept his gaze fixed on
Selena.

 “Somehow
that doesn’t comfort me.” Selena hugged her arms close to her body.

“I
can’t change the man I was.” Catal took a step closer to her. “I am bonded to
you. I might not have understood that in the past, but I have never lied to you.”

Selena
gave him a pained look. “I don’t want to talk about your lies. Right now, all I
want from you, is my son back.”

Catal
forced back the agony her words produced. He had failed her in the past. When
he should have been protecting her, he had been away on a mission. He had
followed orders, but he knew differently now. Never should he have left his
mate in danger. He would make it right.

The
last years without Selena had been pure anguish.

He
couldn’t continue to live like that.

“We
need to talk.”

“When
have we ever talked?” Selena’s voice was sarcastic.

Catal
winced at her words. “True, but there are things you need to know about me.”

“You
told me nothing about yourself. All I know is that you are a mercenary who was
disloyal to my brother.”

“I
never betrayed you.”

“Juan
disagrees.” Selena’s voice was weary. “He said it was a Hunter who had
destroyed the camp. The truth was that you were never working for us, but for
another government.”

“That’s
not what happened.” Catal wiped his hand over his face and sighed. “I came back
from the last mission and you were gone. There was nothing left of the base
camp except bodies. I searched each one to be certain you weren’t one of the
dead.”

“What
about your life before?” Selena tilted her head. “How long have you been a
mercenary?”

Something
in Selena’s voice forced Catal to look at her. Her eyes didn’t waver from him.
In their depths, he saw wariness and uncertainty. Perhaps now was the time to
tell her the truth. Honesty would be the only way to prove that he had changed.
It would show that he trusted her completely.

“What
do you want to know?”
Catal’s
jaw clenched.

“
Firbin
hinted at something that I didn’t understand.”

Catal
reached out for
Firbin
with his mind. “
What did
you tell Selena?
”

“
I
thought you had told your mate the truth about how you arrived on this planet.
”
Firbin’s
voice was apologetic. “
Once I realized
she did not know, I stopped.
”

Selena
was looking at him. Her eyes were expectant. She stood in the center of the
room, with arms crossed and shoulders back. She wouldn’t settle for less than
the truth. He must open himself to her and trust. She deserved to know who he
was. All these years on earth and never had he told a human the truth about
himself. This was not an ordinary human, though.

This
was his mate.

The
woman he held close to his soul.

“When
I was ten years old, I was on a training exercise that went wrong.” Catal
exhaled a deep breath.

“What
kind of training operation does a ten year old go on?” Selena’s voice held
disbelief.

“My
training started when I could walk.”
Catal’s
voice
was devoid of emotion. There was nothing he could do about his past. “A Hunter
spends his whole childhood training to be a warrior. That is one of the reasons
we are the best.”

“One
of them? Does that mean that there are others?”

“Yes.”
Catal rubbed the back of his neck. This was more difficult than he had thought
possible. He had buried the truth deep. He had no intention of ever telling
anyone his background. It was the first brutal lesson he had learned on this
planet. Blend in. Act human. It was safer that way.

“Hunters
have been genetically modified to be the best warriors. At birth we were given
implants that helped us focus and develop quicker.”

“We
don’t have that kind of technology.” Selena shook her head. “If we did, it
would be illegal.”

“Nevertheless
it is true.”

Selena
frowned. “Why would they do this?”

“It
made us warriors. There is none better than a Hunter.” Catal cleared his throat.
“We had implants that provided us with chemicals and biologicals that made us
stronger.”

“Steroids?”

Catal
shrugged. “I have no idea what they were. Besides the chemicals that helped us,
there were implants that made certain we would only concentrate on our duty.
They blocked our natural tendencies.”

Selena
shook her head and sat on the couch. “This is sounding complicated. Wouldn’t
strength be the only thing you needed help with?”

Catal
shook his head. “We need complete focus to duty. Hunters are used for only one
thing. We are warriors. Any other kind of life is denied us.”

Selena
was silent for a few seconds. “So you only had one job. You were soldiers.”

“Yes.”
Catal inhaled a deep breath. “Our learning began as soon as we could walk. When
I was ten, my unit was sent on a special training exercise. Our ship
malfunctioned and we crash landed on Earth.”

Selena
gave him a blank stare for several seconds and then shook her head. “
Firbin
suggested that, but I know you’re human.”

“I
am not from Earth.”

Catal’s
heart raced. He watched Selena’s face for the first signs of revulsion and
fear. Her eyes widened and she looked away from him. She brought a shaky hand
up to her mouth as if to stop herself from screaming. He braced himself for her
rejection.

“How
is that possible?” Her voice was a low whisper. “Where are you from?”

“I
am from Cygnus.” Catal unclenched his jaw. “It is an ancient culture run by the
Kaladin
until very recently. A civil war has meant
that the Holman are now in charge.”

“Is
it far away?” Selena’s voice shook.

Catal
shrugged. “I have no knowledge of the distance. That is not my specialty. I am
clan
Saidir
. We are soldiers.”

“How
could you have lived?” Selena turned to face him. “People don’t survive plane
crashes.”

“The
technology of the
Kaladin
is advanced. Parts of their
crafts are engineered to survive interplanetary challenges and landings. Our
teachers moved us into the protected area of the launching chamber before we
crashed. About one hundred of us walked away alive. We lost many in the
accident and more since we’ve been on this planet.”

“How
long ago did this happen?”

“Almost
thirty-one years ago.”

Selena’s
mouth dropped open. “You barely look thirty.”

“We
age differently on your planet.”
Catal’s
gaze didn’t
leave her face. “I have seen over forty years and most of it has been spent
fighting.”

He
waited for her reaction. Her hands clenched in her lap. That lasted a few
seconds before she slumped forward on the couch. Finally she sighed and looked
up at him.

“How
do I know this is the truth?”

Catal
sat down beside her. “I am not lying. Just telling you this puts my life at
risk.”

“Then
why say anything?”

“I
need you to understand why I couldn’t be honest with you before.” Catal reached
out and stroked her arm. “There are other things about me that you should
know.”

“About
your life?” Selena’s voice was soft.